Long-term stewardship (LTS) of contaminated sites is taking on greater
significance as an increasing number of these sites are cleaned up and
put back into beneficial use. Many sites cleaned up under Federal and
State programs involve restrictions or limits on their use to ensure long-term
protection of human health and the environment. Long-term cleanup requirements
and any subsequent restrictions at these sites should be monitored, maintained,
and enforced to ensure that the integrity of the remedy is protected and
the site remains protective of people and the environment. Federal, State,
Tribal, and local governments, responsible parties, and other site stakeholders
serve as long-term stewards for many cleaned up sites.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) formed the Long-Term Stewardship
Task Force to evaluate the current state of long-term stewardship across
its cleanup programs and to make recommendations for where EPA should
focus its efforts to address particular issues or opportunities for improvements.
The Task Force includes representatives from each of EPA's cleanup programs,
including the Superfund, Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA), Underground
Storage Tank (UST), Brownfields, Federal facilities, and enforcement programs,
and several State cleanup programs. The Task Force examined a variety
of aspects associated with LTS, with an emphasis on the following six
elements:

Roles and responsibilities-Who is or should be responsible for implementing
and overseeing LTS activities, and are these responsibilities understood
and clearly communicated?

Information management-Is there adequate information on LTS activities,
is it effectively communicated, and is there a need for improved information
and training?

Institutional Controls-Are there problems with implementation and
effectiveness of ICs and are there opportunities for improving how they
are selected, implemented, monitored, and enforced?

Engineering controls/remedies - Are there problems with engineering
controls and opportunities for re-evaluating them and the physical remedies
to reflect changing science and technology, improve performance, and
optimize operation and maintenance without minimizing human health and
environmental protection.

Life-cycle costs-Are there effective methods for determining the costs
of LTS activities and are cleanup programs consistently applying them
when making cleanup decisions?

Resources and funding mechanisms-Are there adequate resources to effectively
carry out LTS activities and are there mechanisms to ensure funding
is sustained over time?

The purpose of this report is to present particular challenges and opportunities
for improvement identified by the Task Force and to make recommendations
that EPA and its State, Tribal, and local partners should consider in
addressing them. This report represents the first effort by the Task Force
to identify and address the challenges that EPA's cleanup programs are
facing. As the state of LTS evolves across the different cleanup programs,
new or different issues may emerge that may result in additional recommendations.
Similarly, as the Task Force and EPA's cleanup programs continue to address
the many issues inherent in LTS, lessons learned and new solutions may
be identified and shared with other programs.

The remainder of the report provides the background or context of LTS
(including a definition and explanation of its importance), what EPA and
others are currently doing to address it, and the specific LTS challenges
and recommendations of the Task Force.